The Perfect Moment
by pukaroxliza
Summary: Lily and Snape got in a fight over the summer and are no longer speaking. With Snape out of the picture, James decides it's time he make his move on Lily, but Lily still think's it's not.
1. Prelude

A/N disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters blah blah blah

Special thanks to mishalina for editing this, even though she had no idea what it was about (: thank you dahling!

_**Oh! Also, there are lots of American type slangs in here, and I know they're british and wouldn't say some of these things buuuuut it's easier for me to write this way so… yeah! Alright, I'm done now!**_

_**Prelude**_

_**The train**_

James Potter stared at the train, wondering whether or not he would fit in at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had been waiting for the moment of his arrival at the school his entire life, but now that it was here, he had to admit that he was a bit nervous.

His mother looked down at him. She was a kind woman, with the same colour of eyes as he had; a beautiful hazel; and the same jet-black hair as he. Their hair, however, was evidently different. James's would never stay put, and his mother's always seemed perfectly placed upon her head. She had a smile that made him feel warm from his head to his toes, even though he would never admit that to anybody. She dedicated that smile to him, and ruffled his hair, messing it up even more.

"Now, James, you be a good boy," she said, and James nodded. He didn't want to disappoint her, but it would be hard not to do. It wasn't like he looked for trouble. Trouble simply seemed to find him.

"I'll try, Mum," he said, and then he hugged her quickly and ran into the train. He sat in an empty compartment and waved to his mother from the window. He saw her laughing, and she waved back at him.

"Excuse me," he heard a voice say. He turned around to see a shaggy looking boy of his age standing at the door of his compartment. "Can I sit in here with you? Everywhere else is full."

James grinned.

"Yeah, sure, come on in." The boy nodded politely and sat down as far away from James as humanly possible. James pretended not to notice.

"I'm James. James Potter" he said, stretching out his hand to shake the boys. The boy stared at it for a few seconds, and then looked up into James's eyes.

"Lupin. Remus Lupin" he said, without smiling.

"Are you excited to be going to Hogwarts?" asked James. Lupin shrugged.

"I guess . . ." he mumbled.

"I am! I've been waiting for a really long time. I was a bit nervous, cause I thought that everybody might be really stuck up, but now that I've met you, I know I was wrong."

"You don't know me," said the boy, shuffling his feet. James was jealous. The boy must be taller than him. His feet still dangled an inch above the floor.

"Well, you don't seem snobby" shrugged James. Lupin looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks," he said shyly. Suddenly the door flew open and a small boy with dark hair and a thin face ran into their compartment just as the train started. He had a mischievous grin on his face, and he sat down opposite Lupin. James looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, I'm Sirius Black," said the boy, stretching his hand out to James. James shook Sirius's hand. Sirius then stretched his hand out to Lupin, who did the same as he had to James; he simply stared at Sirius's hand, then looked up into his eyes.

"Lupin. Remus Lupin," he said.

"And I'm James Potter," beamed James.

"What house do you guys think you'll be in?" asked Sirius, and James's eyes lit up.

"Gryffindor! My entire family has been in it," he explained. "You?"

"Well . . . I'm hoping to be in Gryffindor, but so far my family has always been in Slytherin, so . . ." he said, rubbing his feet together. James was happy to see that his feet didn't touch the ground either.

"What about you, Lupin?" asked Sirius, turning to the boy in the corner. Lupin looked up. "Um, can I call you Remus? Lupin sounds too formal," Sirius said, shuddering.

"Uh, yeah sure. I haven't really thought of that," Remus said.

"I bet you're in Gryffindor," said Sirius. James liked this kid. He was almost more outgoing than James himself.

"Why?" asked Remus, furrowing his brow.

"You look brave," said Sirius, smiling.

"You have no idea," mumbled Remus.

Before James had the opportunity to ask him what he meant by that, the compartment door opened again. This time a short chubby boy stood in the doorway.

"C-can I come in?" he asked, blushing.

"Yeah, come on in! Join the party!" James waved him in, and the boy sat beside Remus, and in front of James.

"I'm James Potter," said James, and the boy nodded to him.

"Sirius Black."

"Remus Lupin."

"I'm Peter Pettigrew," said the little boy, looking at his feet. His feet didn't touch the ground either.

"Nice to meet you, Peter!" said Sirius. "What house do _you_ think you'll be in?"

"I'm not sure . . ." said Peter shyly.

"I think I'm going to be in Gryffindor, Sirius thinks he's going to be in Slytherin, and we think that Remus is going to be in Gryffindor with me," said James, smiling.

"I hope I'm in Gryffindor then," said Peter, blushing. "That way I'll know somebody."

"Wouldn't it be so awesome if we all ended up in Gryffindor?" asked James. Sirius laughed sarcastically.

"Yeah, right. Like I said, my entire family has been in Slytherin, and we go WAY back. Pureblood all the way," he said, shaking his head as if disgusted. "There's no way I'll be in Gryffindor."

"It would be cool though, if you were. Then we could all four be friends!" said James.

"We can be friends even if Sirius isn't in Gryffindor," said Remus. James smiled, trying to hide the surprise on his face. Remus had been the last person in the compartment that he had expected to agree with his friendship idea.

The compartment door opened for a fourth time. A petite girl with long red hair and dark green eyes was standing in the doorway. A small, skinny boy with greasy black hair stood behind her. She put her hands on her hips.

"Give Severus his Rememberal back," she said, looking at Sirius.

"What did you say his name was? Snivellus?" asked Sirius, grinning.

"That's not funny. Give it back to him," she said.

"Alright, Mum," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. He handed the girl a tiny ball and she gave it to the boy behind her, who scurried off. She turned to leave, but James stopped her.

"So, what's your name?" he asked. She looked down at him.

"Are you friends with this character?" she asked, pointing at Sirius.

"Well, yeah . . . I mean, I hope so," he said, and Sirius smiled at him.

"Well then I'm not telling you my name," she said, and she slammed the compartment door behind her. James looked at Sirius, confused.

"What's up her butt?" he asked, and Sirius shrugged, grinning.

"Don't know. But she could do much better than Snivellus over there," he said, and James laughed. To his surprise, so did Remus and Peter.

"You know," he said, "this feels like the start to a great friendship."


	2. Seven Years Later

_**Chapter One**_

_**Seven years later.**_

"Ew, Wormtail, don't do that. It's nasty," said James Potter as his friend Peter Pettigrew took his finger out of his nose.

"I had something stuck . . . never mind," said Peter, lowering his head to study his shoes.

"So, you guys . . . last year at Hogwarts, eh? How do ya think it's going to go?" asked Sirius Black, a handsome young man who sat beside James in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. James smirked.

"It's going to be great. I think Lily is going to fall for my irresistible charm this year," said James, running his hand over his angular jaw. "I mean, how can she not?"

"I could list a few reasons," said an annoyed female voice from the hallway. James, Peter and Sirius looked towards the door to see a pretty seventeen year old girl with long, straight red hair and piercing green eyes.

"Hey, Lily!" said James, smiling sheepishly. "Thought you couldn't sit with me because you had to go do rounds or something. What brings you here?"

"Rounds," she said matter of factly. James nodded.

"Hey, Lily, you see Snivellus over the summer break?" asked Sirius, sticking out his tongue.

"Grow up Sirius. His name is Severus."

"No . . . it's Snivellus, isn't it James?" asked Sirius, smirking at James. James nodded. So did Peter.

"Whatever. No, I didn't, to answer your question. We aren't speaking anymore," she said, then stalked away, leaving the door to their compartment open.

"She wants me so bad," said James putting his hands behind his neck.

"Geez, she's gotten _really_ high and mighty hasn't she? _I_ think it's that Head Girl badge . . . I swear, it did something to her," said Sirius shaking his head.

"She's always been high and mighty," pointed out James. Sirius shrugged.

"True."

"Hey, where's Remus? Shouldn't he be doing rounds with Lily? Lucky bastard . . ." murmured James under his breath. Peter looked a bit alarmed, and Sirius laughed.

"Don't use that kind of language around Pettigrew, James," he said, "he doesn't understand what it means."

"I do so!" said Peter indignantly, and James and Sirius laughed. One of their favorite hobbies was getting Peter wound up, which wasn't very hard to do.

The compartment door slid open and a shaggy looking seventeen year old walked in and sat himself beside Peter.

"You look terrible," said James.

"Nice to see you too," said the boy, smiling.

"You know, you shouldn't be sitting in here with us. If Head Girl sees you she'll give you the third degree," said Sirius.

"What can she do? Take away my Head Boy badge?" asked the boy sarcastically. "Yeah, right. Trust me, I can put that Lily Evans in her place."

"You seem to be the only one . . ." said James, shaking his head.

"Probably because I'm not hitting on her all the time."

"But I never hit on her, and she's always acting all superior with me. How do you explain that, Remus?" asked Sirius.

Remus shrugged. "Because you're always breaking the rules?"

"What about Peter? He's never does either of those things."

"Maybe she just doesn't like me," said Peter, more to himself than to anyone else.

"If she doesn't like you, she's mental," said James, reaching a hand out and putting it on Peter's shoulder. Peter smiled shyly. It was moments like those that made his friendship with James, Sirius and Remus truly worth it.

"Thanks, Prongs," said Peter. James patted his shoulder, and then slumped back down into his seat.

"I should probably get back to doing my rounds," said Remus, standing up. "See you guys at the sorting ceremony." He left the three of them sitting alone in their compartment.

"He's so serious," said Sirius, and James laughed.

"What?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah Sirius, he's _so_ serious."

"Ha-ha. I've never heard that one before," said Sirius, punching James in the shoulder.

"Hey, hey, stop! Check it out," said James, pointing to their compartment door. All three of the boys looked, but there was nothing there.

"What the . . . ? I swear I just saw someone peeping through the window on the door," said James, shaking his head.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Sirius, putting a hand up to James's forehead. James swatted it away, rolling his eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you very much. But I'm not joking. There was someone there."

"Maybe its Lily, realizing that you're her one true love," joked Sirius.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was a guy . . ." said James, too preoccupied with his thoughts to catch Sirius's joke.

"Longbottom maybe? That's guys always snooping around. I think he might be working for You-Know-Who."

"Frank? No, not possible," said James, dismissing the idea instantly. Frank Longbottom was one of the nicest guys he knew. He didn't think that he would even consider being a follower of Lord Voldemort.

"Well, you never know . . ." said Sirius, putting his hands in the air.

"Yeah, I do. Honestly, Padfoot, Frank wouldn't hurt a fly, much less a person."

"I . . . I think that James is right," said Peter and James grinned at him.

"Why, thank you Peter! That is the first time you've agreed with me since, um . . . _ever_!"

"Well . . . it's just . . . I don't think Frank Longbottom has it in him. It takes a very unique person to—"

"Unique? More like mental," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"I heard Regulus is hanging out with them. You know . . . the followers," said James, whispering. Sirius turned towards him, a stern look on his face.

"Regulus can go stuff a duck, for all I care," he said, his teeth clenched.

"You know you say that, but I don't think you really want your brother to become a follo—"

"Like I said, he can do whatever he wants," said Sirius, turning away from James and looking through the compartment door. "It's his life, not mine."

James shifted awkwardly in his seat. He knew that he shouldn't have brought Regulus up; it was always a touchy subject with Sirius. Eager to change the subject of the conversation, he quickly worded the first thing that popped into his head.

"So, Sirius, how's that Muggle you were dating?"

"Don't know, I haven't seen her since we broke up," said Sirius, shrugging.

"You guys broke up?" asked Peter, looking as surprised as James.

"Yeah, after I took her home to meet my parents (she insisted, okay?) and my mother scared the hell out of her."

"You sure have guts, dating a Muggle with your parents being the way they are."

"I know, I did it to bother them," said Sirius, chuckling.

"And that poor girl was just a pawn of their annoyance. You are so heartless, Sirius Black," said James, shaking his head with a grin. Sirius grinned too.

"I know," he said, and the two burst out laughing.

James looked towards the window of the compartment door and saw a tall, skinny boy walking by wearing dark robes. His hair was greasy, his skin extremely pale and his nose rather large. James nudged Sirius who stood up and slid the door open.

"Hey, Snivelly!" he called, and the boy turned around. His eyes were like coals.

"What?" he asked in his dull, toneless voice.

"I heard you and Evans got into a bit of a spat over the holidays," said Sirius, raising an eyebrow. "What's that all about?"

"None of your business," muttered Snape, turning away.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. You can tell me! I swear, I won't tell a soul!"

Snape turned and glared at him.

"Why don't you just get your friend Potter to ask her? I'm sure she'd tell him anything." He smiled sarcastically and stalked away.

"Okay . . . Great to see you, too!" called Sirius, and then he slid back into the compartment.

"So, how is our dear old Snivellus doing?" asked James, and Sirius chuckled.

"Touchier than usual. I think he must have confessed to Lily or something and she turned him down. I'm not sure . . . He said to have you ask her, cause she would tell you anything."

"Aha! I knew she wanted me," said James, readjusting his tie. Peter chuckled nervously and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Like anyone but us could put up with you," he said. James scoffed in mock offense.

"Ouch," he said, "you make it sound like I'm a burden."

The door slid open and Remus peeked in.

"You three better put your robes on. We'll be arriving soon." He started to leave, then peeked back in. "Did you say something to Snape, Sirius?"

"No, why?"

"Because he seemed a bit ticked. I walked by him and he bumped me really hard and said, 'Tell your friend to get his nose out of other people's business'."

"Bah, Snivellus is just a bit on edge cause of the spat between him and Lily. He'll get over it," shrugged Sirius, putting his robes on. James and Peter did the same. Remus shrugged and walked away.

"Well guys, we're finally here. NEWT year . . . You guys ready?" asked James.

"Bring it on!" said Sirius and Peter at the same time, and James smiled as the train came to an abrupt stop.

James, Sirius and Peter followed Remus, Lily and the rest of the prefects into the great hall. It looked exactly the way it always did, except on the days of the OWL exams. He and his friends had taken them two years back, and his friend Alice Hopewell would be taking them that year. He spotted Alice and went to sit down beside her. Sirius, Peter and Remus joined them. James pointed out an empty spot in front of him for Lily, but she ignored him and went to sit at the edge of the table. As the first years were sorted, all of the new Gryffindors avoided sitting beside Lily, maybe intimidated by the fact that she was the Head Girl. Finally, a perky little eleven year old with pink hair took a stand and sat down beside her, immediately beginning to talk to her animatedly.

"I wonder if I could get that first year to help me out with Lily," murmured James, and Alice elbowed him.

"Real nice, James. Is it that hard just to go up to talk to her?"

"Uh, well, yeah. You see, she always finds an excuse to leave before I can say my third sentence."

"Hmm . . . So, do you want _me_ to help you out?" asked the fifteen-year-old, grinning.

"Would you?"

"I can try," said Alice, winking.

"Oh my God, Alice, you know I love you, right?"

"Save it," she said, laughing, as professor Dumbledore stood up to give his beginning-of-term speech. It changed every single year, and normally James listened intently, but this year he decided to stare at Lily Evans. He realized she had been glancing at him. He felt a glimmer of hope. It probably wasn't all lost after all.

The plates filled with food, Lily started to explain something to the first year with the green hair ('Hey, didn't she have pink hair, like two seconds ago?' pointed out Sirius, his mouth full of something) and James began to dig in. The house elves that served at Hogwarts always seemed to know exactly what he was in the mood for. He ate as much as was humanly possible, then waited for Dumbledore to lay out the ground rules of Hogwarts. When Dumbledore was done, the prefects and Head Boy and Girl stood up to lead the way towards the common rooms, the first years following close behind. James, Sirius and Peter decided to take a little short cut towards the Slytherins, seeing as Remus had already told them the password was 'Globberworm'. When they got there, they noticed Snape stalking behind a girl with long brown hair. She was talking animatedly to him about something the three boys couldn't hear.

"Oh my God . . ." whispered Sirius, pointing at the girl. James recognized her as Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix Black, a fifth year who had openly pledged her loyalty to Lord Voldemort. Everybody knew of the secret group (or not so secret once Bellatrix blabbed) that called themselves death eaters. The rumors were that this group included Sirius's younger brother, Regulus, and, with Bellatrix in there, too, everybody assumed that Sirius must be a 'death eater'.

"Snivellus? No way. He's in with the death eaters?"

"Maybe he's just in the need of some new eye candy, now that Lily's out of the picture," joked James, but the look on Sirius's face said that it was no time for joking.

"I . . . I can't believe it!"

"I can," said Peter quietly.

"You know, I can, too," said James, "He's totally the type."

"Well I can't. And look, they're holding hands! It's disgusting!"

"Sirius . . . They aren't holding hands, she's just grasping his wrist," said James, looking and feeling confused. "Well, that's strange."

"Indeed," said Sirius, and Peter mumbled something under his breath that neither bothered to ask about. Peter nearly always mumbled his words, but when he had something important to say, he said it out loud.

The three watched as the Slytherins left the Great Hall, and then stood in silence for a few seconds. Finally, Sirius broke the silence.

"Come on, guys, let's go," he said. James and Peter nodded, and together they made their way towards the Gryffindor common room.


	3. Somebody Knows More Than She Should

_**Chapter Two**_

_**Somebody knows more than she should**_

As always, the first week of school was brutal. And being in NEWT year seemed to make the teachers think it was okay to send them the amount of homework they normally sent for winter holidays every day, starting the first day. By the end of the week James and Sirius were both behind on so much homework it made their brains want to explode. James knew that the normal response to this was simply to ask Remus or Peter for help, but he couldn't help but think of the opportunity that it presented. Lily was Head Girl, so obviously she was really smart. He had tried asking her for help with his homework several times in the past, and she had always blown him off, but he was feeling good, so he decided that that afternoon in the common room he would ask her for help. He walked out of the great hall after breakfast and decided to wander around the common grounds for a while. James couldn't have been more pleased when he saw Lily Evans sitting under a tree with the first year girl she had been talking too the first day. The girl's hair was a flaming red now.

_I should go talk to her_, he thought. He checked his breath, straightened his tie, and tried to fix his hair, but it seemed impossible. He started walking towards her, but before he got there he noticed another figure stalking towards her. He groaned.

_Wonderful_, he thought. Now _he wants to talk to her_.

He took a few steps towards Lily and Snape, but stopped when he realized that he could hear them easily from the tree he had come to. He sat down and listened.

"Come on Lily, please?" said Snape.

"No, Severus," said Lily. "Please leave."

"Okay, okay . . . What if I told you something? Something only Dumbledore and a select amount of students know." Lily looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You honestly expect me to believe that _you_ know something that only the headmaster and, like, three other students know? How would you know something like that?"

"Let's just say I was at the right place at the wrong time. Unintentionally, of course," muttered Snape.

"Well, if it's about your new friends, I don't want to hear it. You know how I feel about them, especially about Bellatrix."

James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Lily _jealous_? No, she couldn't be. She couldn't like Snape. She had to like him. _Him_!

"I don't like Bellatrix either, I told you that," said Snape, sitting down beside her. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Please," she turned away.

"Lily, don't be this way, I'm begging you! You're my best friend, and I can't stand not talking to you."

"I'm your best friend am I? Me, the mudblood you didn't need help from in fifth year."

"I thought we'd already been over that."

"Me, the non-death eater."

"Now that's a very judgmental statement right there . . ."

"Me, the girl who likes . . . Never mind."

"Oh, so you were serious about that, were you?" said Snape.

"I was," said Lily.

"Well, just to let you know, I don't approve of that. At all."

"I don't need your approval, _Severus_," said Lily.

"Fine, I don't care, do whatever you want," he replied, standing up. He then paused for a second and then knelt to whisper something in her ear. Lily's eyes widened and Snape stood up again and turned to leave.

"You . . . you aren't serious, are you?" she asked. "This is a trick to get me to turn against him. I mean, you know he's one of my best friends . . ."

"Do some research. If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. Just don't tell anybody else about it." And with that, he walked away. Lily sat there, staring at nothing.

"Lily?" asked the first year.

"Oh . . . yes, Tonks?"

"What was that all about?" asked the girl.

"It was nothing . . ." said Lily unconvincingly. James stood up, ready to go talk to her, and started walking towards her.

"Hey, Evans," he said, winking at her. Lily stood up and looked at him in the eye. James raised an eyebrow seductively, but then realized that Lily's eyes looked frightened and uncertain.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned. Lily shook her head and walked past him.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To the library," she called back, and James suddenly found himself alone with the first year.

"Hello," she said, smiling. James smiled back awkwardly.

"Hey."

"I'm Tonks. Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm James Potter," he answered.

"Cool. See you around, James Potter," she said, and then she ran away, leaving James alone. Alone, and very confused.

"No. No way," said Remus as James walked into the common room. Sirius was sitting in front of him, at one of the tables, looking annoyed.

"Oh, come on, Moony! You know I can't do this stuff! Professor McGonagall just likes assigning hard stuff 'cause she knows I can't do it."

"Yes, Sirius, McGonagall assigns difficult homework because she knows you can't do it, and because she hates you, and _not_ because we're in NEWT year," said James, sitting down beside Sirius.

"See, James gets it. Thank you, James," said Sirius, nodding at him, and James patted his back.

"Anytime, buddy."

"No, Sirius," said Remus, standing up.

"Remus," whined Sirius, and Remus turned around, chuckling.

"You're honestly whining?"

"Why yes, I am," said Sirius, sounding almost proud of himself.

"Remus, you should just do it already. You know what card he's going to play next," said James. Sirius nodded.

"Not the 'if you were really my friend' card! That's not fair, Sirius, you know I can't refuse that," said Remus looking whiny. Sirius smirked.

"If you were really my friend . . . "

"God, _fine_!" said Remus, sitting back down at the table.

"Okay guys, get this. I was just roaming the grounds, being awesome . . ."

"As per usual," added Sirius.

"And I happened to notice that Lily Evans was somewhat alone."

"Somewhat alone?" asked Remus as Sirius handed him a quill and some parchment.

"Well, there was this first year with her, but—"

"I'm not doing all of it for you," said Remus, handing the quill and parchment back to Sirius.

"Remus," Sirius whined, but Remus shook his head.

"No way. You start it."

"Fine!" grumbled Sirius.

"May I continue, with your permission?" asked James. Sirius nodded. "Thank you, Sirius. So, I was going to go talk to her, but then . . ." He explained everything to them. By the time he was done telling them everything, Sirius had handed the parchment and quill back to Remus.

"What do you think he told her?" asked James.

"Sirius, you only wrote your name and the title of your essay!" said Remus, glaring at Sirius.

"So? It's started, right? That's what you wanted! Why are you complaining?"

"Well, first of all, you spelled 'transfiguration' wrong . . ."

"Whatever," shrugged Sirius.

"Guys, what do you think he told her?" said James, trying to get their attention, but they were gone.

"No, not whatever. How in the world do you plan to pass your NEWTs?"

"I don't. I plan to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, be blamed for some huge murder thing and be sent to Azkaban for the rest of my life. Either that, or I'll be a game keeper. Maybe Hagrid will take me in as his apprentice."

"You're nuts," said Remus.

"No, I plan for the future," said Sirius.

"You honestly want to get blamed for a murder you didn't commit and get sent to Azkaban where the Dementors will slowly suck your soul out?"

"Uh, they don't slowly suck your soul out, Remus. They feed off of every good memory until all you're left with is your worst experiences. Geez, I thought you were smart," said Sirius. "They only suck your soul out when they perform the Kiss, and I doubt that's very slow."

"I don't like your tone," said Remus.

"Oh, sorry father."

"That's Mr. Moony to you," said Remus.

"Would you just do my essay for me?"

"No!"

"But if you were really my friend . . ."

"I hate you," grumbled Remus.

"Love you, too."

James sighed, exasperated. He was relieved to feel a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around.

"Oh, thank God." His heart stopped when he saw Lily standing behind him, her lips pursed. She glanced at Remus and then back at him.

"Hey, Potter, could I um . . . talk to you? For a second?" she asked. James shrugged.

"Sure. Be right back, guys."

" 'Kay," said Sirius, grinning.

"Don't sit there enjoying this," said Remus, and Sirius started saying something else, but Lily pulled James out of earshot of the rest of the common room.

"Look, Potter . . ."

"No, it's okay, I already know what you're going to say," he said.

"Uh, no. You don't," she said, looking annoyed.

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, so what is it?"

"You just wanted to apologize for how horribly you've treated me the past six years, and tell me that now you realize what you've been missing out on. You also have decided that you wanna snog me to infinity and beyond," he finished proudly.

"Not even close."

"Dammit."

"Now, will you listen to me? This is serious," she said, putting a hand on his wrist. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. What is it?"

"Um, well, I heard something really . . . interesting, earlier today and I was wondering if you, along with the half an hour of research that I just did could help me confirm this thing that I heard."

"Is this what Sniv—? I mean, go on," he said, feeling as though he had just made a big mistake. Thankfully, Lily didn't seem to catch on.

"Okay . . . um . . . I don't know how to ask you this . . ."

"Whatever you ask, the answer is yes," he said, winking.

"That's kind of what I was hoping you wouldn't say"

"You WANT me to reject you? You're strange," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm not telling you that I like you _or_ asking you out!"

"But you don't deny the fact that you like me."

"Yeah, I actually do. Will you just let me ask you my question? This is weird enough for me already. I kind of wanted to ask Remus about it, seeing as him and I are closer than you and me . . ."

"So, why didn't you?"

"Well, I wouldn't know how to approach him. It kind of has to do with him."

Suddenly it clicked in James head what she was going to ask. He covered his mouth with his hand.

"No way, he did not! I cannot believe that little rat!" he almost screamed.

"What? Rat?"

"Snivellus! What did he tell you?" he asked, grabbing Lily by her shoulders. Lily bit her lip.

"Okay, well, you're probably gonna think I'm crazy for kinda believing this but . . ."

"Just spit it out!"

"Well . . . I have reason to believe that Remus Lupin is . . . a werewolf."

_**A/N ok, so it has come to my attention that James was apparently head boy, not Lupin… sorry for that! Hope it doesn't ruin the story for you (:**_


	4. Snivellus Must Die

_**Chapter Three**_

_**Snivellus must die**_

"I. Cannot. Believe. He. Told. Lily," said Sirius the next morning at breakfast. Remus shrugged, but Sirius seemed furious.

"I was thinking of telling her anyway," said Remus nonchalantly.

"Since when are you two so chummy, anyway?" asked James, trying not to let the annoyance in his voice show. What Lily had said the day before, 'I kind of wanted to ask Remus about it, seeing as him and I are closer than you and me' had really affected him. He didn't even know that Remus and Lily were friends! He knew that Sirius and Lily were kind of almost friends, and he considered himself one of her friends, but Lily and Remus? It didn't make sense.

"We kind of ran into each other at this camp site during the summer between fourth and fifth year, and seeing as we were the only two teenagers there, we spent two weeks hanging out with nobody other than each other. You kinda get to know someone when you spend two weeks with them. I even met her family. Nice folks. Except for her sister. She's really bitter, and ignored me as soon as I mentioned that I was a friend of Lily's from school," explained Remus, eating a huge spoonful of cereal when he finished. James let it sink in.

"So wait. You've been really close friends with the girl that you know I'm completely in love with for two whole years, and you've never told me?"

"It never came up in casual conversation! But don't worry; I've been putting in a good word for you."

"You better have been," said James pointing his spoon at Remus.

"You guys, the fact that Moony and Lily are good friends is irrelevant. Snivelly told someone, something he swore to Dumbledore that he would never do, and now he must pay the price," said Sirius.

"Price?" asked Peter, looking scared and confused at the same time.

"Yeah, the price. We should steal all of his socks," said Sirius, smirking.

"Sirius, you're so immature," said Lily, as she sat beside him. James sighed.

"So what? He's Sirius, Remus is Remus, Peter is Peter, but I'm still Potter? Your favoritism is alarming."

"I just came by to tell you guys that I won't tell a soul," she said, ignoring James. "So you don't have to murder Severus. I'm just surprised you didn't tell me, Remus. I mean, especially after I told you . . . Well, anyway, just telling you." Then she whispered something to Remus and he whispered something back. Lily smiled and then went to sit with some of her friends.

"What was that?" asked James. Remus smirked at him.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Oh yeah, Sirius, here's your transfiguration essay."

"Well, you sure took your sweet time doing it," said Sirius, taking it from him. "I still think we should do something to that greasy slime ball."

"What did Snape so this time?" asked Alice, sitting beside James.

"Nothing," said all four boys at the same time. Alice looked at all of them, and then shrugged.

"Whatever. Listen, James, they're doing this charity ball thing on the eighteenth, and I was thinking . . ."

"Alice, you know I love you, but I was kinda planning to ask Lily to that."

"You should take Lily. That's what I would have said if you had let me finish. Geez, you sure are full of yourself. Besides, Frank already asked me," she said, winking at him.

"Frank Longbottom?" asked Sirius. Alice nodded. "Damn, he's smooth. I was going to ask you. You know, as friends."

"Why thank you, Sirius, I'm very flattered. But I already told Frank I'd go with him," she said smiling.

"Good for you, Alice," said Peter, smiling shyly. Alice smiled back and touched his wrist.

"Thank you, Peter," she said. Peter looked away so nobody could see him blushing. All of the guys knew that Peter had a huge crush on Alice, and the only reason that Sirius was planning to ask her was because he had told Peter that if he didn't, he would.

"You know, I should get dates for the three of you," said Alice, pointing to Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"Oh, I, um . . . won't be going," said Remus looking down into his cereal. James, Sirius and Peter exchanged uneasy looks.

"Me neither," said Peter, and Remus smiled at him, obviously thankful for his sacrifice.

"Alright, so just you Sirius. Anybody you were thinking of taking."

"Well . . . I was gonna ask you but . . . I didn't really have a back up plan. Maybe I'll go stag."

"You? Go stag?" asked Alice, looking incredulous.

"No, that's right, every girl will want to dance with me," said Sirius, smugly. Alice rolled her eyes and James laughed at his friends' cockiness.

"Okay, what about Sybil Trelawney?" asked Alice.

"She graduated two years ago, Alice. Seriously, get your head out of your ass."

"No need to be rude to Alice, she's just trying to help," said Remus, elbowing Sirius.

"Right. Sorry Alice. I'm just a bit ticked, that's all. Would you excuse me for just a second?" With that, he stood up and headed towards the Slytherin table.

"Oh, God, this isn't good. I'll be right back," said James, standing up. He followed Sirius, catching him just before he planted himself in front of Snape, his hands crossed over in front of his chest.

"Sirius, don't do this," whispered James.

"Can I help you?" asked Snape dryly. Sirius's nostrils flared.

"May I have a word? Outside?" he asked. Snape shrugged and stood up and followed Sirius to the hall in front of the great hall.

"Yes?"

"What's your damage?" yelled Sirius.

"No need to raise your voice, Black. I'm standing right here, I can hear you."

"I can't believe you told Lily!"

"She deserved to know," smirked Snape.

"Deserved to know? She's never going to act the same around Remus again!"

"Good for her. Maybe that will distance her from your little . . . posse. Are we done?"

"No, we are not! Don't think Dumbledore won't hear about this."

"I think he already knows," said a voice behind the boys. The three turned around and saw the headmaster standing behind them. He quickly explained, seeing the faces of confusion on their faces. "I followed you out. Snape, Black, may I have a word with you two? In my office? Potter, you may return to the great hall," said Dumbledore, already guiding Sirius and Snape towards his office. James watched them leave and then turned around and walked back into the great hall.

"You guys, you guys!" said Sirius, running up to James, Remus and Peter who were sitting under a tree by the black lake. James and Peter looked up expectantly, but Remus continued reading the book he had in his lap.

"Have fun at the headmasters office, Padfoot?" he asked, turning the page.

"A lot of fun! You know Dumbledore has talking suckers up in his office?"

"Seriously?" asked Peter. James laughed.

"You really get a kick out of that stupid pun, don't you?" said Sirius rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah," said James.

"Well, yes, seriously, and they're called Severus Snape. That guy spilled the beans instantly about absolutely EVERYTHING. I found out some very useful information about a certain Evans girl while I was in that office. Very interesting stuff. Like why she and Snivellus got into that huge fight in the first place, why he felt he had to tell her, and how she's in love with—"

"Um, Sirius, could I have a word with you?" asked Remus, interrupting Sirius. James felt like punching Remus. How could he interrupt Sirius when he was about to make such an important announcement? He needed to know who this guy was, so that he could tell him that if he ever hurt Lily, he would beat him to a pulp. He couldn't do this if he didn't know who it was.

"Damn that Remus Lupin and his self-righteousness."

"Huh?" asked Peter.

"Listen, Wormtail, the only reason that he's forbidding Sirius from telling me who Lily's got the hots for is because he wants to show everybody how much of a better person than Sirius he is and that way he can take what's her face to the charity ball," said James.

"I . . . I don't think that's how Remus . . . He's not even going!"

"Trust me, it's how he rolls," said James, shaking his head.

"If you're talking about my being self-righteous I can tell you right now that that is not the reason that I stopped Sirius from spitting out one of Lily's deepest secrets. It's because Lily isn't ready for anybody to know yet. It's really embarrassing for her, see?"

"Wait, you know, too!" said James, jumping to his feet. "That's the secret you guys were talking about at breakfast!"

"Oh, that? Yeah, I know about that, too," said Peter. Sirius and Remus stared at him, looking confused.

"She told you?"

"Uh, no, I have eyes," said Peter in a 'duh' tone that didn't suit him at all.

"Oh, really, what is it?" asked Remus, and Peter whispered something in his ear. Remus nodded and Peter smiled, proud of himself.

"So, are you guys going to tell me?" asked James.

"No," said Remus, shooting a glare at Sirius who had opened his mouth, obviously to say the opposite.

"Why not! It's not fair! Why only me?" asked James, stomping his foot like a little five year old boy.

"Because, James, you like Lily, and it would be really counterproductive to tell you who she's into," said Remus.

"You know… I kinda have to agree with Remus on this one, James," said Sirius. "And I'm sure that Wormtail agrees with my agreeing with Remus."

"Oh, come on! You were all ready to tell me a few minutes ago," said James, exasperated.

"Yeah, well, I was young and innocent then."

"It was a few minutes ago," said James.

"A lot can change in a few minutes," said Sirius, raising his eyebrows mysteriously. James rolled his eyes.

"You know what? Fine! I'll ask her myself," he said, turning away from his friends.

"She's not going to tell you," said Remus.

"Don't care! Plus, it gives me an excuse to ask her to the dance with me," shouted James.

"She's going to say no," shouted Peter.

"Don't care!" shouted James, and with that he made his way back into the castle.

As he walked through the castle, James thought about what his friends had said. This secret of Lily's was about somebody she liked. Somebody that none of his three friends could tell him who it was. So it was obviously somebody from school. That excluded the three of them, and Snivellus, because she told him, too. That meant that he had a shot. He wondered if it were possible that Lily Evans liked him. His hopes had been dashed to the ground many times before, so he tried to put it out of his mind. There had been a point in fifth year where he had been sure that Lily was into him, but when he confronted her about it, she had laughed in his face and simply said 'please' and then walked away. He had never told anybody, but that had actually hurt him. Not deep enough to lock himself up in his room and eat only chocolate for three days without talking to anybody, but it had hurt him.

He turned a corner to make his way to the library, the first place he would look for Lily, and found himself smashing into Snape.

"Oh, so sorry," he started, picking up some of the papers that Snape had dropped, but when he saw who it was, he dropped them and said, "You know, never mind."

"Like I thought. Don't worry, I don't need your stupid sympathy," he said, bending down to pick up his books. James caught a glimpse at his arm, the same one that Bellatrix had been holding a week earlier.

"Nice tat," he said, starting to walk away. Then he remembered that he had also planned to give Snape a piece of his mind for telling Lily, even though he would have never said it in front of Remus, like Sirius had. When he turned around he saw that Snape had covered the arm with his tattoo on it, and was starting to walk away, looking awkward.

"Hey, Sniv," called James, "what the hell is your problem? Why in the world would you tell Lily about Remus being . . . about his condition?"

"Because, Potter, Lily can't keep her trap shut. And I think that people deserve to know."

"Well, I don't think that the reason you told her was to spite us," said James before he even thought. He bit his lip. He couldn't believe he had just said that.

"Oh, and why do you think that I told her?" asked Snape.

"Because you couldn't stand the thought of her not talking to you," said James. Once again, he couldn't believe what he had just said, but it felt right. It was as if he had had a nagging feeling in the back of his head for a while and now it was surfacing. Suddenly, it all made sense. "Because you love her"

"You're mental!" snapped Snape. "How could I love a filthy mudblood like her?"

"Take it back, Snape," said James, his fists balling up. His jaw tensed.

"Make me," said Snape and then he started to walk away.

"Don't you walk away from me, you slime ball," yelled James, and before he knew it he was on the ground, punching Snape in the face over and over again. Snape seemed completely emotionless, almost as if he was letting James hurt him, as if he felt he deserved it. James certainly thought he did. Professor McGonagall, who just happened to be patrolling the hallway, on the other hand, did not.

"Potter! Snape!" she called out, and James quickly jumped up. He looked down at Snape. He had a black eye and both his nose and lip were bleeding, but he looked completely emotionless, as if he wasn't feeling the pain.

"Oh, God," said James, running his hand through his hair.

"Yes, 'oh, God' is right, Potter. Please follow me to the headmasters' office," she said, pushing him away from the group of students who had suddenly appeared outside of the library. James didn't even know he had been so close to the library. He noticed Lily standing amongst the students. Their eyes met for a seconds, and she quickly looked away, obviously angry at him. "Somebody please take Mr. Snape to the nurse's office."

Of course Lily was the only person to volunteer. She helped Snape to his feet, shot a glare at James and then helped him to the nurse's office. James sighed and let the middle-aged professor lead him to Dumbledore's office.


	5. What Lily Had To Say About

_**Chapter Four**_

_**What Lily had to say about the fight in the hallway**_

Several days passed, and James kept trying to find a way to talk to Lily, but she avoided him as if he had the plague. The only perk in those few days was knowing that she and Snape hadn't become friends again while she took him to the nurse's office. He must have told her the reason for their fight, and she had been so mad that she had made him walk to the nurse's by himself. But if that was the way it had been, then she would be thanking James, not completely avoiding him. Snape must have told her something else, make him seem like the victim when really James was. Or was he? The more James thought about it, the harder it seemed for him to distinguish who the bad guy had been. His friends (except Remus) had assured him that he had done the right thing. Even Alice agreed that Snape deserved what he got ('Alice, please don't say that, he believes everything you say!' had said Remus), and yet the silence from Lily seemed to be proving everybody (but Remus) wrong. By the time the sixteenth rolled around, James felt bad about having punched Snape's brains out. He didn't feel bad about defending Lily, but he did feel bad about Snape having to walk around alone with a large purple mark around his left eye.

After classes that day, James decided that he needed to go apologize to Snape, and so, without telling his friends, he walked out of the common room and went to look for him. He found him stalking the halls, looking gloomy and annoying. He swallowed his pride and walked towards him.

"Um, Snape?" he asked. Snape turned around, looking surprised.

"Potter," he said dryly. James ran his hands through his hair.

"Listen, Snape, I . . . I feel bad about . . . you know . . . what happened the other day in the hallway by the library."

"Really?" asked Snape sarcastically.

"Yeah, and um . . . well . . . I'm sorry," he said. Snape raised an eyebrow, as if he was waiting for James to suddenly scream 'Not! You totally deserved what you got you inconsiderate git'.

"Oh, well . . . thank you, I guess," he said after a while, and he turned around and started to walk away. James shrugged, guessing that was as good as it was going to get with Snape, and then decided that there was someone else he needed to apologize too.

"Hey, Snivelly," he called. Snape turned around.

"I _knew_ you calling me Snape was just a charade that would end as soon as you felt like a good person again," he said. James ignored him.

"Do you know where Lily is?" he asked.

"Yes," he said, and he walked away. James groaned.

"Well, could you tell me?" he called, but if Snape heard him, he didn't let on. James stuck his hands in his pockets and went out looking for Lily. He checked the library, but she wasn't there. He checked the grounds, but she wasn't there. He roamed the hallways for a while, and finally went into the common room where he found her talking to Alice. It seemed weird to see them talking, but James decided he would ask Alice about it later. He walked towards them and stopped when he was standing right behind Lily. Alice smiled and then pointed to him. Lily turned around and then looked at her watch.

"Well, I think I better get to work on that potions essay Slughorn assigned us . . ." she stood up and looked like she planed to leave. James grabbed her arm.

"Lily, come on. Please talk to me."

"Talk to you? You act as if I've been avoiding you," she said, looking uneasy. Was she blushing?

"You _have_ been avoiding me," said James. "Look, could I just have a quick word?"

"I . . . I guess . . ." she said, and she followed James to the portrait hole, where they stepped outside.

"Look, Lily, I'm sorry for what I did to Snape . . . I know he's your friend, and—"

"He's not my friend," said Lily coldly. James looked at her, trying to act surprised.

"He's . . . not?"

"No. He, um . . . he told me why you hit him."

"Did he? And what did he say?" asked James, skeptical.

"He said that he called me a mudblood and that you defended me. He said that he was really sorry and that he deserved the beating," said Lily, digging her nails into the palm of her hand. James bit his lip.

"So . . . why have you been avoiding me then?" he asked.

"Because, James, you defended me! And I was afraid that if I talked to you . . . You know, never mind."

"Is this about this guy that you're so crazy about?" he asked. Lily looked at him, obviously startled by what he had just said.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I know about this guy you're into. And just to let you know all of my friends and Snivellus seem to know who he is."

"You mean . . . Sirius and Peter know, too?"

"Yes, they do! And it seems unfair to me to single me out like this, so you should just tell me who this character is," he said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you who it is. And yes, this does have to do with him."

"Well if it has to do with him, then why are you ignoring me? You should be ignoring him!"

"I AM!" screamed Lily.

"No you aren't! The only people you're ignoring right now are me and Snivelly."

"God, you're stupid!" said Lily. "Plus, how can I be ignoring you if I'm talking to you?"

"You wouldn't be talking to me if I hadn't practically forced you too," retorted James.

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you!"

"But it has to do with this guy you like."

"Yes!"

"How does he have anything to do with me?" asked James, and Lily groaned, exasperated.

"Think about it. Think about it _real_ hard, James Potter" and she stomped back into the portrait hole.

"Wait, Lily!" called James, acting completely on impulse. Lily peeked her head out, looking livid.

"What?" she snapped.

"Do you wanna go to the charity ball with me?"

"Gimme a break," she said, disappearing into the portrait hole. James groaned and followed her in, sitting beside Sirius who was sitting by the fire on the couch.

"So, how did it go?" asked Sirius, chuckling.

"Guess," said James, sighing.

"Don't have to. We could all hear you from here. I think everybody knows who Lily's got the hots for now."

"Seriously? Well, somebody should tell me, cause I'm totally lost. Maybe she's into my . . . long lost brother or something. And that's what it has to do with me."

"Lily's right . . . You _are_ stupid," said Sirius, shaking his head, laughing. James punched him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the support, man," he said, and Sirius continued laughing.

"So hey, I was thinking of asking Nola Patil to the ball. Think she'd go with me?"

"Ugh, don't talk to me about the ball," groaned James.

"Oh yeah, heard you got rejected. Actually, everybody heard you got rejected."

"Wait a second," said James, snapping his fingers. "Wait just a second. Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"You wanna tell me what revelation you just had?" asked Sirius.

"I know who Lily likes," he said, and with that he dashed out of the common room.

It made sense. It made perfect sense. The guy Lily liked couldn't be Snape, Sirius, Remus or Peter, and it was somebody that Snape didn't approve of. Also, she had avoided James after he had defended her, because she was afraid that something would happen if she talked to him. The guy she liked had something to do with James, and she was ignoring him too, even though the only two people she was ignoring were James and Snape. James couldn't believe it. He ran into the library, where he found Remus and Peter doing their homework. James sat down at their table.

"It's me!" he said, excited. Remus and Peter exchanged a confused look.

"I'm guessing there's more to that statement," said Remus.

"I got it all figured out. I just talked to Lily, and I know who she likes! It's me! You guys, it's me! I'm the guy she likes, and don't say 'no it's not' because it makes perfect sense for it to be me!" he said, grinning.

"Fine, James. Yes, it's you," said Remus and James's grin grew. "But you can't tell Lily you know."

"Why not? Why is she so insistent that she doesn't?"

"Because, she's been rejecting you for so long, this is her biggest 'I told you so'. Everybody told her someday you and her would end up together, and now she likes you. She can't stand being wrong. She was wrong about you and that embarrasses her," explained Remus.

"That's so stupid," said James, and Remus shrugged.

"She's a girl."

"Well, what should I do? I mean, should I ask her out again?" asked James. Remus bit his lip.

"Talk to her. Hint that you know that she likes you, and if she's just being really stubborn and really . . . well, Lily, then just confront her about it, and tell her that she's being stupid."

"I can't tell her she's being stupid! You don't tell a girl she's being stupid!" said James and the librarian came up behind him and shushed him. James apologized.

"Alright, so don't tell her she's being stupid. You still have to ask her about it," said Remus, shrugging. "Hey, is this spelled right?" he asked, pointing to a spell in one of the books he was reading. James looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What?"

"This is a crisis, Remus, and all you care about is spelling spells correctly?"

"I don't think this really qualifies as a crisis, Jocelyn. The girl you like likes you back."

"Okay, the Jocelyn thing? Completely uncalled for."

"Well, you're acting like a chick . . ."

"And yeah, she likes me back, but she doesn't wanna do anything about it," James almost shrieked. He realized that he was starting to sound a bit like a girl. He cleared his throat.

"What you have to do is trick her into it," said Remus, smirking.

"Trick her? And exactly how do I do that?" asked James.

"Don't ask me! But maybe Sirius would be able to help you with that one," said Remus, and then with a quick wink, he and Peter went back to doing their homework. James thought about it for a second. Of course Sirius would help him. He was Sirius. He stood up and walked out of the library, wondering what masterpiece Sirius would come up with for him.

When James found Sirius he was arguing with Joel Patil, a six year Ravenclaw.

"Listen, I don't care if she's been sending you signals all week, just stay away from my sister," said Joel, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's just a ball. Geez, Joel, take a pill."

"Don't tell me what to take and what not to take."

"I didn't tell you not to take anything, but now that you mention it, maybe you should lower your dosage on your over-protective-brother vitamin."

"Don't be smart with me, Black. I'm telling you to stay away from my sister and that's final." With that, Joel walked away, leaving Sirius looking confused and a bit entertained. A few seconds later he noticed his friend.

"Dude, did you see that?" asked Sirius, laughing.

"Yeah, I did! What's up that guys butt?" asked James.

"I asked Nola to the dance and she went all 'Oh my God, seriously?' and next thing I know Joel is screaming at me for getting her hopes high and breaking her heart or something . . . That guy's mental."

"Totally. It's not like you've already broken her heart or anything."

"Right? Like, yell at me after I break up with her," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Guess I just have a rep and now brothers are getting protective when I get close to their sisters."

"Wouldn't doubt it. Hey, I need your help with something."

"Alright, shoot."

"I need you to help me trick Lily into going out with me," said James.

"Look, James, for the last time, she's never going to want to go out with you! When are you going to get it through your head that—"

"I know I'm the guy she has the hots for," said James, rolling his eyes. Sirius sighed.

"Alright, so here's what you do . . ."


	6. The Ball

_**Chapter Five**_

_**The ball**_

Finally the eighteenth came. Since it was a Saturday and there were no classes, everybody, especially the girls, seemed to be locked up in their rooms getting ready. James sat in the common room with Sirius. Peter and Remus had disappeared the night before, and both of them knew that Peter must be going through a hard time trying to deal with Remus alone. He was probably telling Peter to go away at that very moment, afraid of what he might do to a poor defenseless rat.

"But its okay," said Sirius, " 'cause I have the map on me, so we'll be able to see if Peter needs any trouble."

"Be careful with that! Filch is always prowling the halls. If we get caught with it, he'll take it for sure. We already lost the sphere that told you the exact location of any person inside of Hogwarts."

"That was so handy. No need to look through the map. Sometimes it can take ages to find the person you're looking for."

"Tell me about it," said James, sighing.

"Man, this place is like woman free land. I swear, every single girl is getting ready, and the ball doesn't start for another three hours!"

"It's so much easier to be a dude," said James.

"Yeah," said Sirius, and they high fived.

"You guys not getting ready for the ball?" asked Alice, sitting beside them on the couch.

"Uh, Alice? We're dudes. We don't—" Sirius stopped and stared at Alice, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "What did you do to your hair?"

Alice's normally straight long hair was curled into ringlets, with little flower clips all over. But that wasn't the only thing that had changed about Alice. She was wearing make-up for probably the first time ever, and a hoop earring hung from each ear. She looked . . . well, like a girl.

"Alice, you look amazing!" said James. Alice smiled.

"Why, thank you," she said, blushing.

"Damn girl, you clean up real good," said Sirius. "Frank's definitely gonna kiss you tonight!"

"You think?" gushed Alice. "God, you know, I wasn't sure, but now that you mention it . . . Yeah, maybe he will!"

"You know, Alice, I would love to talk about you and Frank but I need you to check on Lily and make sure she's coming," said James. "It's kind of really important."

"Fine," said Alice, chuckling. She stood up and walked towards the girls' stairway and Sirius called out.

"Do we get a sneak peek of the dress?"

"You'll just have to wait like everybody else," joked Alice and she ran up the stairs. Sirius and James exchanged a look and grinned.

"Man, if all the girls look as good as Alice then I'm not going to mind hooking up with one or two," said Sirius.

"Don't do two. That never ends well. Remember that dance club in Surrey?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay, well, maybe just one."

"Just make sure those ones aren't Alice or Lily," said James. Sirius bit his lip.

"I dunno. I'm feeling kind of attracted to Alice suddenly."

"No," said James firmly. "Alice is our friend and she really likes Longbottom. Please don't ruin this for her."

"Fine. But she can do much better than Longbottom," said Sirius bitterly. James chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright, so now what?" he asked.

"Now," said Sirius, sighing, "we wait."

James had never seen the great hall so decked out in his seven years at Hogwarts. Fall was obviously the theme of the ball, with large trees everywhere that were shedding their leaves one by one. The floor had been enchanted so that it looked like grass, giving the whole ball and outdoorsy feel to it, and in one corner of the great hall it was raining. James remembered how Alice had once told him that almost every girl dreams of getting kissed in the rain. Maybe that was a way he could seduce Lily, if Sirius's plan didn't work. The two seventeen year olds bought their tickets and then went to sit down at one of the many picnic tables that had been spread out around the hall.

The whole place honestly looked like they were all just on a school wide picnic. Except there was music blasting from all four corners of the room. As soon as they sat down, their table filled with sandwiches, crisps and cans of Coke. James opened a can and drank the whole thing without taking a breath. Sirius watched him and raised an eyebrow. James shrugged and threw the can in a nearby trashcan.

He looked at the entrance and saw Alice and Longbottom walking in, and his jaw almost dropped. She was wearing a short, pink frilly dress that looked like it was made out of silk, with a little red stripe going across her waist that ended in a small bow. Her shoes coordinated with her outfit perfectly ('Dude, what are you, gay?' had said Sirius after James mentioned this) and her hair just complimented the whole thing. She honestly looked amazing. But she was nothing compared to who walked in right behind her, looking a bit like a third wheel.

Lily Evans wore her red hair tied up in a bun, except for three or four ringlets of hair strands that framed her face. She wore a light blue dress that hugged her waist and ended just under her knees. It was quite plain, not frilly like Alice's, and her shoes were just simple blue flats. Even though Alice was far more dressed up than Lily was, she didn't even come close in James's eyes.

"I'm going in," said James, standing up. Sirius pulled him back down.

"No, you'll ruin the whole thing," he whispered. James nodded and straightened out the collar on his tux. He waited for a few seconds and then pretended to see Alice for the first time and waved her over. Alice waved back and dragged Longbottom and Lily along with her.

"Hey guys! Wow, you look great," she said, smiling.

"Not as great as you," said Sirius and James elbowed him.

"What?" mumbled Sirius.

"Not now," replied James.

"So, what do you guys think?" asked Longbottom.

"It's great, why?" said Sirius.

"Frank was on the decorating committee," said Alice, giggling.

"Gay," said Sirius between coughs.

"Shut up," whispered James.

"She can do so much better."

"Sirius."

"Hey, James," said Margaret Doherty, a sixth year Hufflepuff, smiling at James and fiddling with a strand of her blonde hair. James knew that Sirius had set up this girl to come and ask James to dance, but he hadn't expected her to be so hot. Lily would definitely get jealous.

"Oh, hey Margaret," said James causally.

"Wow, you look great," gushed Margaret, and James raised an eyebrow.

"Well, so do you," he said.

"Hey, do you wanna . . . maybe, I dunno, dance or something?"

James glanced at Lily. Her face was beet red and she looked kind of angry. James smirked.

"I'd love to," he said, and he followed Margaret onto the dance floor, which was basically anywhere where there was no picnic tables. He quickly found himself apologizing for stepping on her feet, and soon he found himself apologizing again. Margaret just laughed and said she was fine, but after the third time he could tell she was getting annoyed. Thankfully, a miracle happened.

"Excuse me, could I cut in?" asked Lily, glaring at Margaret. Margaret shrugged and started dancing alone. Lily put one hand in James's and the other on his shoulder while he placed his second hand on her waist.

"So, I thought you wanted to bring me to this dance," said Lily after a few seconds of silence.

"I thought you didn't wanna come with me. You rejected me, remember?"

"Yeah, well that was because you were being stupid and annoying," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"That's just me," said James, winking. He glanced over Lily's shoulder and saw Alice and Frank dancing together. Alice gave James a quick thumbs up and James grinned at her.

"Yeah, I've come to realize that over the past seven years," said Lily. James smirked at her.

"Have you? And how exactly is that?"

"Uh, by talking to you, by observing you, by—"

"Observing me?" asked James, pretending to be confused. "Now, why on earth would you observe me?"

"I only did it once, and it was in fourth year, after the first time you asked me out. I wanted to see how you acted around different people, so I observed you. It really bothered me how you treated Severus. That's why I rejected you."

She bit her lip. James could tell she hadn't wanted to tell him that. James thought about it for a second and then realized that it made sense. It wasn't that Lily didn't like him, she actually probably did, but Snape was her best friend, and if he dated Lily, he kind of had to date Snape too. Which was a weird thought.

"So, if I asked you out again right now, what would you say?"

"Right now? At this very instant? Hmm . . . I would probably say no."

James stopped dancing. Lily looked at him confused.

"Okay, really? Seriously, you would still reject me?"

"Uh yeah, I would. After you beat Severus to a pulp and then screamed at me for no reason, yeah I would reject you," said Lily putting her hands on your hips.

"You know, you have got to be the most fickle girl I have ever met. Why am I never good enough for you? I mean, it's either I've said something wrong, or I've done something wrong, or I'm friends with the wrong people. Honestly, when will you just . . ." His voice trailed off.

"When will I just what?" asked Lily, who was starting to look annoyed.

"Never mind," mumbled James.

"No, I wanna hear this. When will I just what?"

"When will you just admit that you like the fact that I'm not perfect!" said James, not able to hold back his anger anymore. Lily stared at him, a bit stunned.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Look, okay, I know that I don't always say the right things, and I know that I get in trouble a lot, but look Lily, that's just the way I am! And you know that! I know that you know that! But I also know that you still like me, and I think that scares you."

"I still— Hold on a second, you think I _like_ you?"

"I _know _you like me," said James, exaggerating the sentence with his hands.

"Well, you sure are wrong there. Maybe I did, for like, a split second but . . ."

"A split second? Lily, you got in a fight with Snape over the summer over this!"

"How—"

"I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am," he yelled.

"Oh really? Who thought that I rejected you in fourth year because I thought your hair was dumb? Who thought that I didn't wanna be your partner in potions in sixth year because I felt that your inability to make good potions would ruin my complexion? Who thought that I was ignoring him because he got in a fight with someone that I haven't spoken too in over a month!"

"Okay, okay, time out. You liked me in fourth year already?"

"DUH! Hello! I was so stoked when you asked me out that I screamed for about ten minutes! But as soon as I told Severus about it, he told me some of the things you did to him, and it felt wrong to date you after my best friend had told me how much he hated you." She paused for a second, looking at the ground. "Severus was the only thing that kept me from snogging you to infinity and beyond."

"No, okay, I won't accept that excuse, because you and Snape haven't been speaking for a while, and you still haven't done anything! You know, you could have, like, asked me to go for a walk or if I needed help with my homework or something!"

"Well, sorry James, but I was a little bit in shock about finding out that my best friend is a werewolf!" she screamed. James looked around alarmed, but luckily the music was so loud and so was the talking that nobody seemed to have noticed.

"You know what? Just forget it," said Lily and she started walking away. James started to follow her, but then he noticed that Sirius was making out with a girl in a pink frilly dress over in the other corner of the great hall and a sudden sense of dread filled him.

"Oh, come on!" he screamed at the enchanted ceiling. Then he turned around and went to save Alice from doing something she would definitely regret.

"Sirius!" called James. Sirius looked up and his eyes widened in a way that James had come to realize over the years that meant 'Oh crap'. He quickly pulled away from Alice, and smiled at James awkwardly.

"Hey buddy," he said, biting his lip.

"You just . . . you don't listen to anyone, do you? You just do whatever you want! You don't think about anybody other than yourself," yelled James. Alice touched his wrist.

"James, calm down."

"No, I will not calm down. I'm past the point of calming down! The love of my life has just rejected me for no reason whatsoever, we just got in a huge fight, and now my best friend is making out with someone else's date and that someone else's date happens to be a good friend of mine that I specifically told him not to hook up with tonight and you're telling me to calm down!"

Alice stared at James, obviously hurt by his outburst. She took a deep breath.

"James . . ."

"No, don't James me, okay? You and Lily, you're exactly the same, do you know that? You know, you go after one guy for the longest time, but then as soon as you get him, you trade him in for something else. You've been going on about Longbottom for ages and now he finally asks you out and you end up making out with Sirius, someone you told me not long ago that you would not snog for a bazillion sickles! Nothing's good enough for you, is it? You can't just stay with the guy you want because he's just going to make you happy forever, and God forbid that from happening!" James took a deep breath when he finished yelling. Sirius was looking at the ground and Alice had tears in her eyes.

"Frank asked me on a bet, James. He bet his friends he could get a date before the tenth, and I was just the first girl to say yes. He asked thirteen girls before me." She swallowed. "So don't give me this self-righteous spiel about how nothing's good enough for me." She looked into his eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Because, do you know what? Frank was good enough for me! He was! But he didn't want me, James. He wanted some collector muggle coin and a stamp, and Sirius wanted me. And I know that Sirius just wants to make out with me and then act like it never happened, because that's just Sirius, but tonight, I'm fine with that! Because tonight, my heart feels like it's been ripped in half. And when that happens, James, it's really nice to know that there's someone out there who wants you."

James stared at her for a few seconds, and then Alice ran off through the crowd. Sirius glared at him.

"You know, James, normally I wouldn't say this, because normally you're the one saying this to me, but there's dumb, and there's really dumb. That, James, what you just said to Alice, that was _really_ dumb," and with that Sirius ran after Alice. James groaned. He knew Sirius was right, and he felt bad about what had happened with Alice, but he would fix that later. First he needed to clarify something, something he should have clarified years ago.

James found Lily sitting alone at a picnic table near the rainy area. Several couples were under the rain, some dancing, some kissing and some who were just necking it. James sat down beside her, and she glared at him.

"What do you want?" she asked. James sighed.

"I want to know if you like me or not," said James. "Because if you can tell me right now, without lying, looking into my eyes and swearing that you will be honest with me that you don't like me, I swear I will leave you alone."

Lily looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. He was really getting kind of tired of girls crying at his expense. It didn't make him feel really good.

"I can't say that, James," said Lily, sounding surprisingly calm. "You know I can't."

"So why do you keep running away from me?" asked James. Lily looked at the ground.

"Because I'm scared James. Scared that I'm not good enough for you."

"Not good enough for me? Lily, you're the only one for me! You know that! I know you do."

Lily looked up at him, one tear trickling down her cheek. James wiped it away with his thumb, and then cupped her face with his hands.

"Lily, I get that you're scared. But you don't have to be. You know that my heart has belonged to you since the day you walked into my compartment on the train and demanded that Sirius give Snape his Rememberal back."

Lily laughed. "Oh my God, you remember that," she said.

"Of course I do! I remember every word you've ever said to me."

Lily looked into his eyes, and James felt that it was the right time. Not in fourth year, not in sixth year, but just then. Right at the beginning of their last year of Hogwarts. He leaned in and kissed her, and it was perfect. The way he had always imagined it would be. Lily smiled at him and kissed him again. He knew that he would eventually have to beg Alice and Sirius for forgiveness, take back every stupid thing he had ever said to Lily, apologize for ditching Remus and Peter when Remus was a werewolf, and convince Frank Longbottom that he had made a huge mistake in letting Alice go, but at that particular moment, none of that mattered. He would resolve all of it when it came, but for now, he would just enjoy that perfect moment.

**_A/N thank you for reading and reviewing and subsribing! Means a lot to me (: hope you enjoyed!_**


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